Gundam Bo~ken (the Adventurer)
by Deedlit MagicFayal Wood
Summary: New member of the wing force...Quatre and Duo are the main boys. Unexpected circumstances. Non Yaoi!
1. chapter 1

when you see a word with a ~ in it, it means the letter preceding it is held out an extra count. If you don't like it, to bad for you! Yes I know it is Heero Yuy, but I am teaching my self Japanese this way!~QRW~  
kachoo = lord of the house  
Booken = adventure  
Shik a= deer  
Mekake = concubine  
Rei = ghost  
Kirei = beautiful  
Tenjina = Trickster  
Shizuka = quiet (at peace)  
Hiroo = fatigue (as in tired of fighting something that he doesn't understand) "fits doesn't it?"  
Yui = superiority (upper hand) "fits like a glove"  
Yoake = day break  
Doomo arigatoo gozaimasu = thank you very much  
Tsurara = Icicle  
Sonzai = existence  
  
I have a ferret named Hiro~ Yui :P  
  
These are some Hiiro or Hiro translations Botan and I came up with just for laughs, don't ask...  
Hi iro= Scarlet color  
Hi i ro= Princess (with a) mind (of) wax  
Hi i ro= fire light (is the) rank (of a) b flat  
Hi i ro= injustice (is a) major prison  
Hi ro= tombstone (with a) will (of) silk  
Hi i ro= comparison (of a) stomach (to a) furnace  
Hi i ro= Sun (is a) place (like a) fireplace  
Hi i ro= consort rust (into) jail  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
MilliardMombassiNairobiLucrizia  
Bo~ken Tenjina\ Yoake Aete Winner Status tecnition and agent of the Colonies  
Age 21  
Race Irish   
Sex Female   
Place of Birth Peacecraft Kingdom   
Family unknown backround has a daughter (Rei)   
Height   
Weight   
Eye Color Violot   
Hair Color Mahogany   
Characteristics Bo~ken always wears special cloths under her pilot suit to hide her gender.   
Bo~ken is a capable pilot and from her name Adventure Trickster because of her ability to become anyone male or female. She is a cool observer and has habit of going off on her one when the mission objective has been reached. Her real name is unknown. Peacecraft Kingdom was destroyed because the Alliance invaded its capital Cinq Kingdom 17 years ago. When she was found, the ? colony took her in and trained her to be a soldier. Sence the palace was destroyed when she was four and she doesn't remember them, she believes that her parents where servants.  
  
  
  
"Quatre, I believe this is your area of expertise." Bo~ken, a man of my height with brilliant red hair and green eyes, motioned to the building's security system panel.  
I looked up from the floor and stifled a yawn. I was so tired. "Ok, I can wire into the system without anyone noticing. I need a...an um.. You know, a thingie."  
"Maybe you need a little sleep. A thingie...you mean pliers?" Bo~ken chuckled as I nodded. "Alright, you wire and I will hack the data base to find your Duo and Hiro~."  
"Do you think Wu Fei is ok?" I took the pliers from Bo~ken and opened the panel to the security system. After snipping a few key wires, the building was blind to our movements. I fitted the plate back into the wall, then followed Bo~ken into the laboratory offices. He didn't answer. I some how felt grateful.  
"Trowa may find time to look for him." He edged his way behind a camera and jammed the pivotal axis so it wouldn't betray us. I followed him as he flopped down in front of a computer and began to type hurriedly.  
  
Search specifications: special patience enter  
Please enter access code: ******* enter  
Access denied. Please enter access code: ***** enter  
Access denied. Please enter access code: ********** enter  
Access denied. Please enter access code: ******* enter  
Access denied. Please enter access code: ***** enter  
Access denied. Please enter access code: ************** enter  
Access granted. Please enter specific case: multiple bullet wounds enter  
Case found. Level: R, Wing: South, Room: 234. Escape  
Please enter specific case: blunt trauma enter  
2 Cases found. (1) Level: R, Wing: South, Room: 158.   
(2) Level: 2, Wing: North, Room: 132  
"Alright, Hiro~ must be in room 234 and Duo is in 158. Now we just have to get ourselves into the restricted level. Here is a diagram of the building. We're here and we want to be here." Bo~ken brought up a map and pointed at our destination. He backtracked with his finger to find the best way up. He had tiny hands compared to mine, I noted.  
"There are steps. I can brake a lock easily, the elevators could cause a problem." I pointed out as he tapped on the screen, in thought.  
"Very well. The less resistance, the better." He stood and slipped back under the camera. "You aren't up to full power. I should have taken my Gundam instead of you."  
I walked along side him. I shook my head. "I feel more comfortable with mine here. Not that I don't trust you, but I just don't know you." I shoved my hands in my pockets. The pliers scraped my knuckles. I had forgotten I had put them in my right hip pocket.  
"I understand. I just popped up out of the blue and off we went on a mission. I don't think I would trust me either. It isn't really fair that I know all of you and you don't have a clue." He spoke softly so the hall wouldn't amplify his voice.  
When we rounded the corner to reach the stairway, we came upon a woman cleaning the floor. I drew my gun, but Bo~ken had already shot her with his hi tech gun. The bullet wound seals itself so that blood doesn't spill and the body is easier to hide. "Get the door open." He picked up her body. I hurried to the door and popped the lock. He dumped the body inside the stairwell and motioned me to follow. I closed the door and re-locked it. Not even Wu Fei killed women. I guess I showed my feelings on my face, because he laughed at me. "I didn't kill a woman. It's an android. That is what my gun is for. You take care of the real ones. Come on."  
"Sorry, it just looked bad." I blushed. Of course it was an android, a robotics company funded this research facility. We made it to the restricted level and I bypassed the door security check and opened it. We both took out our guns. "How do you tell them apart?" I asked in concern.  
"Androids are funny colored." He led the way down the hall. His skin was only slightly different from an android's, he was very pail with a hint of olive undertone. He made me feel dark in comparison. His nose and cheeks had a soft blush to them, it deepened as we hurried down the hall. The room numbers climbed as we walked. I watched the ones on the right 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 152, 154, 156, 158... "Open it." Bo~ken slumped against the wall. He looked as tired as I felt. My fingers where sore from all of the wires poking them. The door slid open and an alarm went off.  
"Damn it! I missed the alarm wire!" I yelled over the alarm. I moved into the doorway and watched for the enemy. Half a dozen came running at the sound of the alarm and I picked them all off one by one.  
"Duo, hold on to my neck!" I heard Bo~ken say. A moment later, he came out half dragging a very beat up Duo. "Quatre, cover us!" He pulled him into the hall and ran down in watching the numbers flash past. 160, 2, 4, 6, 8, 170, 2, 4, 6, 8, 180, 2, 4, 6, 8, 190, 2, 4, 6, 8, 200... He stopped and ajusted Duo while I caught up to them. We all ran together. I had killed an easy dozen by the time we hit room 234. I started to reach down and work on the lock. "I'll handle it." Bo~ken shoved me aside and did a high kick into the circuit board. His steel-toed boot busted it into tiny pieces.   
I ran in and cut the bonds off of Hiro~. He got up, pulling free his IVs, and followed me into the hall. Hiro~ was nicely bandaged and had a drugged glaze to his eyes. "You ok?"  
"I don't get a choice."  
"I guess not. Come on, we can take the east stairs, they are closest." I ushered everyone to the next set of stairs. We where nearly to them when several human and non-human workers blocked our path. They had stunners and all kinds of sedatives. We could never get past them. "I am almost out of ammo...We have a problem." I turned and found the hall to our backs covered too.  
"Gentlemen, please direct your attention to our left. I believe it will present a temporary solution." Bo~ken said under his breath. "Run on the count of three. One...Two...THREE!" We all ran to a laundry shoot. Bo~ken tossed Duo in and we let Hiro~ go before I was motioned to go. Bo~ken covered us.   
There was a completely horrifying moment when I wasn't touching and everything around me was silent. Then I hit the shoot that spiraled downwards in darkness. After an eternity, I guess only a minute could have passed at most, I landed in a pile of sheets and things. I rolled quickly to the side and stood up. Hiro~ was holding up Duo, who was ghost white. I ran over and took him, handing Hiro~ my gun in trade. "There are four bullets." I told him.   
Bo~ken landed and came up running. "Come on, come on before they try following us or call security." He raced up the steps to the ground level and we spilled out into the hall. We ran flat out. Once outside, Hiro~ hot wired a truck.   
I hauled Duo into the back, as Bo~ken hopped in next to Hiro~. I laid down next to Duo, so we wouldn't be seen. I was reminded of how tired I really was. "Hey, Duo, are you ok?"  
"Nothing a hot shower and something to eat wouldn't fix. You don't look to hot yourself." Duo glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.  
"Just tired." I mumbled.  
"Quatre? Duo?" Bo~ken called us from the back window. "You two are taking the Gundam back to base. Hiro~ and I will go help Trowa and look for Wu Fei. Go to sleep." Those where orders I had no trouble following.   
********  
When I awoke, my Gundam was in plain view. Duo and I got out quickly when Hiro~ stopped and got into the Gundam as they drove away. I was stiff, but piloting wasn't as hard as it would have been with no sleep at all. Duo, for once in his life, didn't say anything for the whole two hours. He just sat and held his well-bandaged arm. "Did you break it?" I finally broke the silence.  
"Hummm? Oh, my arm? Yah, but it'll be ok." He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "I think the morphine they gave me was a little strong. I feel so fuzzy in my head."  
"Oh. Well, you should sleep. Maybe Bo~ken's pack has something in it you can use as a pillow." I suggested in concern.  
He picked up the pack and rummaged through it. "Humm...Hey, sandwiches! You think he'd mind?" Duo sounded happy over the thought of food.  
"No, they won't be good for very long. They've been in here for hours. If you think it they are edible, go ahead." I said, rechecking my co-ordinates.  
"They where in a mini cooler. They are fine. Peanut butter and Jelly!" He took a huge bite. "There is a chicken salad one. You want it?"  
"I don't want to get anything on the controls."  
"Here, take a bite." Duo held out the sandwich without thought. I took a bite and took my time chewing it. Duo mean while finished his sandwich completely and took out another. When he gave me another bite, I mused over how many sandwiches he would scarf before I finished mine. I found that I was very hungery once I started.  
The sandwich count was five by the time I had downed my one. That was all that was in the bag. Then he went back to rummaging in the pack. "Did you see the weapon that took you down?" I asked him.  
"Yep, it looked like a laser cannon mounted on a hellblazer. Only it charged in about two seconds and fired with kick-butt precision. It shorted the whole gundam out. I went down like a brick." He told me as he pulled something out of the bag. "What a guy, that Bo~ken dude must be prepared for everything! A blanket and a pillow too!" Duo spread the blanket out and laid down on it with the pillow. He fell asleep quickly. I wondered how he could go from asleep to climbing the walls to asleep in no time flat. It was like there was no in between.  
I was humming my latest piece of music to myself as the base came into view. The sun was low in the sky. I woke Duo up and we landed the Gundam.  
********  
I went back to the palace and went to bed. I laid there for nearly an hour before I finally gave up and went into the library. I picked up my violin and began to play a soft tune.  
"Master Quatre?" Shika's voice startled me. I broke off the music with a nasty squall. "I'm sorry if I startled you. Can I get you anything?" She came in and bowed deeply. She had on a flowing white gown that made her seem dream like.  
"Some tea would be nice, if you will join me." I didn't want to be alone. I kept imagining all sorts of bad things happening to my friends. She bowed again and left the room. I finished playing the song and put the violin up carefully. Then I sat down on a chair and relaxed. When Shika came back into the room I nearly jumped out of my skin. I needed to get a major grip. She poured my tea and handed it to me as I studied her. She did everything with such a forced air about it, she was giving me the creeps. It was like she trying to act out a manual instead of live a life.  
"Master Quatre, do you hate me?" She asked in a curious voice.  
I choked on my tea. "Why would you think that?"  
"Well, the way you keep looking at me...And everyone kept saying how happy natured you are, but you haven't done anything but frown sense I was introduced to you." She sat down her tea and looked up at me. "I'm worried, did I sadden you by reminding you of your father?"  
"I'm sorry, it's not your fault. Today was just a nappy day. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable." I blushed slightly. "I was trying to figure some stuff out."  
"So you don't mind me being your first concubine?" She looked at me shyly.  
I blushed deeper. "I don't have any complaint with you, but I have no use for a mekake at the moment. Please don't take it personally." Before my father had died, he had set up her life. She was given to me that morning as a coming of age present. It was strange, but being eighteen and proclaimed an adult made me feel very young.  
"Alright Kacho~." She bowed her head before returning to her tea. We sat in silence for a little while. The woman made my feel nervous. I was expected to have many wives and children, carrying on the legacy, but I didn't feel like I would be capable of dealing with any of it at the moment. It wasn't like once it started, I could just call off a baby and trying to protect a family would stress me more. As it was I had her to deal with. I couldn't refuse her, all she knew was this life. It had also been my father's wish... There was a noise behind me and Shika made a little gasping sound. I leapt to my feet and was reaching for a gun I kept in a near by drawer, as I looked up. "Kacho~?" Shika asked as I straitened up.  
"Bo~ken, what are you doing here?!" I sounded very frazzled and I felt the same. My teacup rattled on the saucer because I was trembling with nervous energy. I sat the cup down with a clatter.  
"They sure don't do birthday presents like they use to." Bo~ken glanced at Shika who shrank back. Bo~ken just turned back to me. "I came to talk, send her away."  
"Shika is mine, she will keep her mouth shut." I assured him. I felt guilty about rejecting her in my mind and couldn't do it out loud.  
"Quatre, I know this whole girl thing is new to you, but they can and will do things behind your back. You don't know her well enough to judge on this kind of stuff." He looked at her again. Without a word, she ran from the room. "Smart girl... Now, so you can get some sleep, Wu Fei is ok now and the rest of them are at the base, sleeping in the dormer. Wu Fei had a hip and shoulder dislocated, but Hiro~ and I fixed him up. We got back Trowa and Wu Fei's Gundams, and salvage crews will pick up the rest tonight."  
"You broke in to tell me my friends are ok?" I asked him in disbelief. I gripped the back of a chair to release some emotion.  
"Correct. Oh dear..." Bo~ken looked down at his feet. He was standing in a large puddle of blood, I noted. "I thought I had gotten everything patched up!"  
"Here, let me see." I moved over and put a hand to his side. He gasped and jerked away. "You need..."  
"No! No, I'll be fine! I have to go." He backed away and turned to go. He staggered around for a few seconds, then went down hard, throwing blood in all directions.   
I picked him up easily and went to my room. I had medical supplies in there. On the way, I met Shika. She was coming towards me. "I heard some yelling...What happened?"  
"He got hurt before he came. Please go clean the library up. He bled all over it." She bowed and left me, looking very much like a skittish deer as she did so. I went into my room and laid Bo~ken on my bed. I went and grabbed a towel, my basin of water, and my medical kit. Then I unzipped Bo~ken's suit and pulled it off along with his shoes. Then I pulled off his shirt and pants. He had on a white tank top shirt like thing that unzipped on the side and another underneath that. When I pulled those off, I got a shock. The next thing was a bra. A bra full of breasts. They weren't small either. They where huge. Bo~ken was a woman. At least that was the impression I got from that angle. I finally managed to swallow and get focussed on making the um shim? not bleed to death on my bed. I owed this...person a favor for saving my friends. There was a gash from just below the ribs to past her waist. I was trying to decide if it was silly to undress her except for the bra. I finally pulled it off and covered her with a sheet, leaving her left side exposed so I could sew it up. It took forty-three stitches to close up the wound. I decided that Bo~ken -who was definitely a woman- would live without any blood transfusions. I washed her cloths out and hung them up in the bathroom. I washed her up and made myself a pallet on the floor. Then I changed my pajamas and brushed my teeth again. I curled up on my make shift bed and went to sleep.   
********  
In the morning I got up, took a shower, and got dressed. I went down stairs and got us some breakfast. When I got back, Bo~ken was awake and looking around in horror. "Good morning, how do you feel?" I brought her over some orange juice. She just kept staring at me. "Drink it, you need to get your strength back."  
She took the glass I offered her. "Thank you." She took a sip of the juice, then looked up at me. "Please, you can't tell anyone."  
"What?" I went into the bathroom and got her some under cloths I had collected earlier.  
"That I'm a woman. I'm not suppose to let anyone know."  
"Well, you didn't exactly let me know. I practically did it with out your permission." I sat down on the edge of the bed with a cup of coffee and sat the under cloths next to her. "But I just couldn't let you bleed to death on my library floor. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."  
"Thank you." She started to get up, but fell back in pain.  
I picked up the cloths and helped her put them on. "Why can't you tell anyone?"  
"I stay on mostly all male bases. Sexism, harassment, not to mention stereotyping…Plus that was an order." She gripped my shoulder for support as I helped her stand. Shika's panties didn't fit her quite right, because they where baggy in the rear. "I have never worn anyone else's cloths before. It's weird."  
"Sorry, but yours where beyond help. I managed to get the blood out of your zip up thingies, but your cloths died a horrible death. You fit in mine ok. You just need a belt." I said confidently as we got her into one of my outfits. It was a soft green shirt and light brown pants. I never wore it anyway. As it turned out, she didn't need a belt. Her hips where big enough to keep them up. Combat boots set off the outfit nicely in that 'I have no taste' kind of way. "You have an awfully deep voice for a woman." I commented.  
"I took speech therapy and hang out with men. You have twenty-nine sisters and it shows. You talk softly." She pointed out. Then her voice changed to soft and feminine. "I still keep in touch with my natural ways."  
Beautiful, if only she had talked like a woman while she looked like a woman. I admired her features and the tone of her voice. I liked her. She was interesting. Of course she had a definite thing against military men in general. Just my luck, having a crush on a girl with a Hiro~ complex. "Hungry?"  
"Yah, I let Trowa and Wu Fei eat the sandwiches I had with me." She placed a hand against her stomach.  
"Duo ate all but one of the ones in the other pack and that's only because he let me have one first." I grinned as I helped her limp down the hall into the breakfast room. Shika was already eating breakfast. She was wearing an awful outfit that was only about 10% accounted for. I wondered if they couldn't afford a complete shirt where she was from. "Good morning Shika."  
"Good morning Kacho~. Bo~ken-sama are you better?" She looked up from her fruit salad and examined Bo~ken with scrutiny.  
"Much, thank you Shika-chan." Bo~ken was back in 'he' mode. I eased him into a chair and sat down next to him as a servant came with food enough for the both of us and Duo too.  
********  
I had started work in the library on Monday, fourteen days after I slashed my side open on Gundam wreckage. It was Wednesday and I sat behind a desk, legs crossed primly. I felt dumb in a dress, pants where so comfortable and un-restricting. My hair was in a high bun and I had on enough make-up to choke a horse to cover a bruise. I was waiting for a contact to show up.  
Quatre wandered in and plunked a book on the desk, "I'm looking for this book in...Bo~ken!"  
"I'm sorry sir, I don't think Bo~ken is a registered language." I frowned as I tapped my name tag. Then I whispered, "This is a library, try reading this. I'm working."  
"Ms. Sonzai...Do they make this book in Japanese?"  
"You speak Arabic, why do you need Japanese?"  
"None of your business, yes or no."  
"Maybe."  
"I don't like you." He pouted suddenly. "You are mean."  
"Get a grip, it's on the second floor towards the back under um...344 point 234 R.E.P. slash L.T.K." I looked up the number for him.  
"Thanks." He turned and left quickly. I watched him go and made a wild guess that he had slept with his hair wet, one side was mashed flat and the other side flipped up. I smiled at him in amusement. He was usually so perfect.  
********  
"Hiro~ Yui. You have been chosen for a mission with me. Come, we need to prepare." Bo~ken walked up and handed me a packet. He never used com systems or computers to give or receive missions. He was kind of sneaky for one of us.  
I opened it and scanned it briefly. Under cover on a base island as vacationers... I didn't get a chance to read any farther because Bo~ken pushed the folder shut. "Not here, come to my place. It would be more... appropriate." I looked up at him in interest. No one knew where he lived and he made it a point to keep it that way.  
When we arrived, I noted the simple apartment was in a normal neighborhood. It looked very nice for a temporary villa home. He motioned me to the living room couch and he went into the kitchen. "How long have you been here?"  
"Three weeks. The colonies caught wind of the new weapon and I was sent to discover how to protect the Gundams against it. I learned every inch of them from the five creators." He explained. "Want a soda?"  
"Alright." I agreed as I opened the file and read it completely. 'Mission: to learn more about the Radicals Displacement Beam or R.D.B. Operatives: Hiro~ Yui & Bo~ken Tenjina Preparations: Operatives must create a realistic marital interactive pattern, including daily rituals, meals, and intercourse regiments.' I reread that sentence again. It still said the same thing. "Bo~ken, what is..?"  
"Read it all. It will save me some answers. Here." He handed me a canned drink and purched on the arm of the sofa non-chalantly.  
I popped the top and took a sip before placing it on a coaster. Then I went back to the file. 'Operatives have one week to perfect their cycle before heading to Caspar Island. There they will pose as a couple on their second wedding anniversary.' I finished scanning the pages, but they where normal. "Now, what is it talking about?"  
"I'm a woman, I hope you can figure the rest of it out."  
I looked Bo~ken over, flat chest and no hips, I felt doubtful. "You are a female?"  
"Yes, give me five minutes and I'll prove it."  
"Why can't you prove it now?" I asked suspiciously.  
"You aren't one for trust, are you? Bo~ken shrugged and unzipped his/her? flight suit, kicked off the boots and after a brief struggle was in nothing but underwear and a bra. It was quite a transformation from flat to curvy. I would have never imagined it possible. She flopped down on the couch next to me and laughed. "I see my case has been proven." I felt very uncomfortable. I overted my eyes. "You've never been with a woman before, have you?" She picked up her shirt and put it on. "It's ok, one step at a time." She turned my face back to her. "You do know how to kiss, don't you?"  
I nodded, kissing wasn't hard, I had kissed Relina before. She let me make the first move. Kissing her was different and it took some getting use to. I had gotten pretty into it when Bo~ken pulled back suddenly in a fit of giggles. I frowned at her, not sure if I was being insulted. "What?"  
"I'm sorry, you just looked so worried or like it was painful. Could you please relax your face?" I shrugged. We tried kissing again. I tried to relax, but that just made it worse. We both ended up spazzing out. I wasn't sure if it was really that funny or if it was nerves. We finally calmed down and tried again. I felt better about the whole thing. She undid one of my buttons and I kind of panicked. "Alright, you can do it when you feel comfortable." She leaned back and let me collect my thoughts. I really wanted to finish it but it wasn't getting started well. I really was a control freak. It kept getting beyond my control and I couldn't take it. "Let's take a break. OK?" She suggested  
"Yah." I sank back heavily. My chest had gotten all tight. I couldn't believe I was having a panic attack.  
********  
It was dark. I had left Dr. J's testing facility to go to my bunker. It was cold and I was alone. I was thirteen and had no idea why everyone was mad at each other. Colonists where people, so what did it matter where they lived?  
Someone was in the darkness, watching me. I didn't know until they grabbed me. I struggled against them, but they won the fight. "Let me go, please, let me go."  
I sat up screaming, drenched in sweat. "Hiro~? It was just a dream." Bo~ken wrapped an arm around my shoulders, trying to calm my trembling. She was in shorts and a T-shirt, but very womanly. "It's ok."  
"No...I remember what happened, I was thirteen...They hurt me." I whispered, a tear escaping my eye. We sat there for a long time, her hugging me quietly. I must have fallen asleep on her couch.  
"That's when you changed, you lost your innocence to the world. Quatre is the only one with any innocence left. Not even I have anymore." Bo~ken said quietly. She let go of me and stood up.  
"I can't do this." My throat was sore.  
"I know. Tomorrow you will go back and Duo will take your place." She turned to go. "Don't feel like you are alone. Everyone has a fear and a demon to face. You can only deal with it and over come it when you are ready. No one can make you ready. My demon is still waiting for me when I can find the courage to face it."  
********  
The doorbell rang and woke me from my restless sleep. I went to the door and opened it. "Hello?"  
A Hispanic man with his hair buzzed short was standing there with a duffel bag. "I'm looking for Bo~ken?"  
"Name?" I kind of smiled. It kind of sounded weird for someone walking up and tell you they are looking for adventure.  
"Alic."  
"Wait a minute." I closed the door and re-locked it. Then I went into Bo~ken's room. She was in the bathroom taking a shower. I stuck my head in. "A man named Alic is at the door."  
"Let him in please."  
"Ok, I'm going now."  
"Don't tell anyone my gender."  
"Ok." I wandered back through the house and let the guy in. "Bo~ken is in the shower, but will be out shortly." Then I left.   
********  
Quatre was sitting in front of some cereal looking dejected. "Duo, do you think Bo~ken hates me?" He pushed all of the red shapes to one side with his spoon, not really looking at me.  
"No, why? Did you do something to him?" I asked Mr. Innocence. Then I took a mouth full of peanut butter and jelly sandwich.   
"Well, no. Bo~ken isn't talking to me though. Since I helped him out when he was hurt, he has avoided me like the plague. Could you at least put in a good word for me if he picks you for a mission. I want to work with him again." He looked up at me with the big eyes that got him his way a lot. His ceriel was neatly separated into soggy piles. He had them done in rainbow sequence and started eating the red ones.  
"You have some strange eating habits." I remarked as I took another bite of sandwich. "I'll tell him."  
********  
I wandered into Bo~ken's house, the door was partially ajar. Some music was blaring on his CD player. It was hyper and I liked it. The house was kind of girly though. A guy came into the room with a bouquet of flowers and a vase. He put them down on the dining room table and looked at me questioningly. He was dark skinned and his hair was nearly black and his eyes where golden. He looked like a military person. "Hello."  
"Hi, is..." I ended in an unintelligible squeak. Bo~ken came into the room when I started to ask. Mini skirt, tank top, and high heels? Not to mention the body beneath. "You are a she!"  
"Very good Duo, you get a gold star. Now your mission packet is on the table. Read it over before asking questions." She shook her finger at me like I was a schoolboy. "If anyone needs me, I'm in the last door on the right looking for my wedding ring." She wandered away, leaving me to gawk after her. Finally I read the file. I was going to have a wife?!?  
********  
I stood with Duo and my husband on the train platform as the train pulled up. A tiny woman of less then five feet bounced off the train and gave me a hug. "Hi Bo~! My gosh, you wouldn't believe how happy I am to get away from that pit. Oh, my bags, be right back!" She went hopping away.  
"Oh my God, and you thought I was hyper." Duo looked at me in disbelief.  
"You will get along great, trust me." I patted him on the back.  
"I never trust anyone who says trust me." Duo frowned.  
"I've heard Tami's great in bed." Alic whispered to Duo a little louder then he meant. I nudged him in the side and mouthed "I'm better," at him. He just grinned.  
Duo took one of Tami's bags when she came back and started talking to her. Alic and I let them walk ahead of us. Tami had her hair in two pompom pigtails that made her look about twelve years old. Duo looked about fourteen. It was hard to believe they where only a few months apart and in their twenties.   
********  
I stepped out of the beach house and strolled down the shoreline, an arm around Tami's waist. She leaned against my shoulder, content for the moment. We where going to get some information in town. I think Bo~ken had put Tami on drugs to keep her tolerable. She had slacked off dramatically on her activity. She still matched me easily. Yah, I had gotten use to being called Honey and I even managed to call her Baby without feeling too stupid.  
Tami slipped her hand under my shirt and tickled my side. I pulled away with a squeal. She smiled naughtily at me. I saw that smile a lot. Her hair was down and poofed out in back like a fan right below her ear lobes. I had pulled my hair back in a low ponytail and she kept calling me Tifa. She ran away teasingly. I caught her. We kissed.  
We where posed as newly weds. Bo~ken said that no one would believe that we had been together before. She said normal couples that are married two years have sex only twice to three times a week. Tami and I where more along those lines per day. Alic told us we had too many hormones, but then again he and Bo~ken had been married for nearly six years.  
We entered the city and walked up the sidewalk. Alic appeared out of nowhere and snatched Tami out of my arms. "Abort mission. Go home." He walked away with her quickly.  
I chilled until dark and went back to the beach house. I changed into my priest uniform, feeling guilt for breaking my vows once again. The one sin I couldn't conquer...   
I shook off my conscience and abandoned the house. I walked through the darkness. "Stop right there! Hands up!" Someone blinded me with a flashlight. I calmly did as I was told. Another person came up behind me. I felt a sharp prick in my neck, reflexively I swatted at the painful spot. Then I went crashing to the ground.  
********  
I opened my eyes, and looked up at silk draped posts. I tried to move, but was restricted. I was handcuffed to a four poster bed. My ankles where bound too. I was freezing and couldn't do anything to change the fact all that was rapped around my body was a sheet. I shivered, wondering where my cloths where.  
"Hello." Horror of all horrors, Une sat down next to me. She cupped my chin and drought her face close to mine. I didn't react even though I felt a small sense of dread. "Cold? Maybe I could warm you up." She brushed her lips against mine.   
I kept chanting in my head 'I will not react...I will not react...' even though I was getting freaked out. I decided to play along and learn what she wanted aside from my bod. "Hi Une, what's up?" I wiggled up against her. She was shielding me from the draft of the ceiling fan that hung above me.  
"You know my name but I don't know yours." She pouted, tapping on my chest with her index finger. Just about any other woman in the world could have been with me and I would have been enjoying it, but not her, she was so -to put it politely- obnoxious.  
  
I opened my mouth and shut it quickly. It wouldn't be a good thing to just blurt my name out, but I almost did. I relaxed my body and recognized the drug in me. Truth serum. "You don't play fair, truth serum is childish." I frowned at her. She just smiled back as she moved her hands. I was not appreciating her putting her hands all over me.  
"It almost worked, didn't it?" She laughed softly at my discomfort. She leaned over, so her body was pressed against mine and propped an elbow on my chest and looked down into my face. My hormones where a stir. "I will enjoy you later. First some people are going to come ask you some questions. Please co-operate, it wouldn't be any fun if you are too banged up to play. See you later." She kissed me harder then before. She stood, then she gave me a soft pat on the thigh before going to the huge double doors to the right of the bed. I noted my cloths stacked on a table in the middle of the room. There where papers and things on it also. "The interrogators will be entering in a few minutes, try to pull yourself together." She pulled open the doors and left giggling. When they closed, I could no longer hear her.  
My body had grown tense from her assault and I tried to relax myself and calm my breathing. I should have been able to have with stood her, but truth serum made me kind of hyper and distractible, so I was easily stimulated. I wiggled until I caught the end of my braid in my fingertips, then I worked through it until I found a lock pick. I pulled it free and unlocked my arms and legs. Then I got dressed quickly. I climbed out a window onto a ledge. It was about ten stories up.  
I found myself wishing that Une was the only one I would have had to have faced. Then I could have stayed until Bo~ken came back for me, but I was forced to shimmy my rear down a drainpipe and run around an island, avoiding people who wanted to kill my cute little personage.  
"Stop!" Someone spotted me. Then they started shooting at me. Some how it didn't make me feel like going over and being friendly. I ran like the devil himself was after me. As we reached a look out point, I found myself trapped with no place to go. There was an angry sea below and a gun-wielding maniac behind me. He ran out of bullets as he caught up with me. He grabbed my arm and I punched him. "Wham!" He smashed me in the back with the riffle. I toppled over the handrail and into the ocean. "Come back here!" He screamed at me as he loaded another clip into the gun and began shooting.  
'Does he actually think that will make me come back?' I wondered as I swam away from the island. A storm was brewing and the waters where fearsome. A wave crashed over my head and I was pulled down in the under tow. I struggled until I lost consciousness beneath the murky waves.  
***Ok, don't start screaming "You killed my Duo!" quite yet. I mean, in case you haven't noticed, Gundam boys are hard to kill. But what if they did die? Anyway, back to the story. ~QRW~***  
I woke up on fire. My whole body was melting. I was thirsty, and I felt pain like I had never imagined before. I tried to move but I was to weak. I smelled of salt and blood and a nauseating sweet smell permeated the room. I managed a moan. I couldn't see anything but darkness. 'Is this really Hell? Have I made such a bad mistake in my life that I damned my self for eternity? For breaking my vows and mocking God all of those years?' I managed to sit up. There was a soft sound of surprise, then cool hands pushed me back down. "Une? Watashi o batsu naze nara nigaru?" 'Is Une punishing me for escaping?'  
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand. Please try to lay still." The woman sounded kind.  
"Wata sekund...I undersand yew. Yew speak Engrish. I dew tew. Not for rong time thowa." I struggled to get my mouth going in the right ways to pronounce the different sounds.  
"Ok, that helps. Do you know what happened to you?"  
"I ferr in the ochen and drownded. Kon I have sum water prease?" I was terribly thirsty.  
"Yes." After a moment, a hand was placed behind my shoulders and she gently held me up as she pushed a cup to my lips. I drank heavily and protested when she took it away. It hadn't been water, but the sweet drink had cut my thirst a little. "It you drink to fast you will get sick." She laid me back down. "You can't see, can you?"  
"No. I eyes hurt bad and I baudy. What are rong I?" I asked in a scared voice.  
"Don't worry, you have a sun burn and some dehydration. You'll be fine in a week."  
"Sun burn, where I croths?" I frowned.  
"I don't know if I understand."  
"I wear croths, I sun burn baudy?"  
"Oh, you can sun burn through cloths. Black is the worst and that's what you had on." She explained patiently. "You have an I.V. right here, so be careful not to pull it out or mash it. Understand?" She poked my arm to point out the needle in my arm.  
"Yes Ma'am."  
"Ok, I'm going to put some medicine on you. It will be very cold at first, then it gets hot. You must not move around. Ok."  
"Oh kay." I relaxed and closed my eyes. She put an ice pack on my forehead and began working me over with the medicine. It felt like an icy heaven for about two seconds, then turned to lava. I mussed over the fact that this was the second time in very little time that a woman was all over me and I was helpless. Along with being helpless, I also didn't care that time. I just wanted to die, sleep for fifty years, and freeze my butt off again. "I miss antartika."  
She laughed softly. "We wouldn't want you to melt the continent." Then she took away the melted ice pack. "I'm going to roll you over so I can treat your back." It hurt like Hell, but the effort was rewarded with a fresh ice pack on my neck. "You've been here for three days and this is the first time you even moaned. You nearly died of sun poisoning and dehydration, but it looks like God saved you, Father. One of the Nuns have been keeping up a supply of medicine and some of the others have come to read to you and pray for you. They took to calling you Jonah because of finding you on the shore. So what is your real name?"  
"Duo...Duo Maxwerr." I said softly.   
"Good day Imma, I brought you some fresh medicine and some lunch. How's he fairing?" A very chearful-sounding woman came into the room. She sounded rolly polly and short. I don't know why, she just did.  
"I feer a bit warm." I said as jovially as possible.  
"Oh, you are awake! Well, God be praised!" She was loud and rattling. "I'll go tell the others!" She left in a bustly manner.  
"Young man, if they where not nuns, I think you would have a fan club." My caregiver chuckled.  
"Werr, that was an eksperianse. Are thare many more rike her?" I felt drained from hearing her.  
"Heavens no! No one could take more then one Martha." Imma giggled. She rolled me back over so I was face up once again. Then slapped a new ice pack on my forehead. "Get some rest. You will have another rub down in an hour, then Agitha will come to read to you."  
"Yew werr stay?" I didn't want to wake up to a new stranger.  
"I'll be here when you wake up." She adjusted a sheet to cover me. I had been completely in the nude for all to see until that moment and I really didn't care.  
********  
"...Exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He..." The voice was young and soft.  
"Had provided purrification for sin He sak down ak de right hond of de fadder." I finished the verse as I reached up to touch the bandages across his eyes.  
"You are awake. I'll get Sister Imma. It will just take a moment." She sounded happy as she clamored in her haste to leave.  
"Is yew Agitha?" I searched my memory for names.  
"Yes, now please be still." She slammed the door.  
I felt a lot better, but I was still burnt to a crisp and thirsty. I sat up and felt around. There was a wall to my left and I turned and leaned against it. It was cool wood. It was a very awesome relief after laying on that bed for so long. I made sure not to be indecent when the girl returned. The door opened and only one person came in. "You slept another two days. How are you?" Imma asked me.  
"I don't feer awfur, onry bad."  
"Well, obviously you are good enough to move around." She came over and poked on me and made me stick out my tongue. I stayed up for a while, getting a few drinks of the sweet stuff again and then decided I had to go to the bathroom. It was a completely humbling experience. I was too weak to walk and blind as a bat. If I hadn't looked like a tomato before, I would have after that experience. When I voiced the fact that it was embarrassing, she just laughed softly. "At least your kidneys work and you have the proper amount of water in your body."  
I got back under my sheet and chilled out for a few minutes. The door opened with a soft creak. "Sister Imma?"  
"Yes Agitha?"  
"There is a man out there who is flashing a picture of Jonah and he keeps saying 'Kimi-tachi to kankei ga aru Duo Maxwell  
"It mans do yew know I, basicarry. What do he rook rike?" I sat up and adjusted my sheets.  
"He's got blond shoulder length hair and blue eyes. He's light skinned and not very tall. He has on a vest and casual dress pants." She spoke softly.  
"Quatre. Go get he prease?" I asked as someone -I assume Imma- tried to push me back into the bed.  
I allowed her to put me back in the bed and she put an ice pack on my forehead. I laid still, listening to her busy herself around the room. The door opened again and two people came in. "Duo?" Quatre's soft voice registered shock.  
"It is I, lobster boy. Can I go home now?"  
"Um, I don't think you could survive transport. You look like..."  
"Death warmed over, yah, I've heard. Hold on and I can ask them how long it should be before I am better." I told him before asking Imma in English. She answered and I stifled a moan. "She says I should be happy in half a week, but make it five days for sure. By then I should no longer be blind."  
Quatre stayed for a very short while, telling me how things where going. Bo~ken and Trowa had gotten into a fistfight while I was here. Bo~ken had ended up spitting blood, but Trowa had a black eye. No one knew how it started. Hiro~ and Wu Fei where as Quatre put it, 'Throwing each other down on the ground and gnawing off limbs angry at each other.' Why is still a mystery.  
I ate half of a grilled cheese sandwich before mentioning that peanut butter was much better and drifting off. 


	2. chapter 2

"I found him! Isn't that wonderfuaaahhh!!!" I shrieked as Hiro~ and Wu Fei went through the wall to my left. "Stop it! Oh please stop that!" I tried pulling Wu Fei off.  
Bo~ken appeared with two pairs of handcuffs. About five seconds later, they where cuffed to opposite sides of the room. "I for one have had enough. You are too big to act like that."  
"As I was saying, I found Duo. He can come home in a week."  
"Zechs not having him is good, I don't know what he would do to get at me." Bo~ken looked relieved.  
*******  
I woke up to Imma giving me a rub down. I felt quite well and wasn't melting. There was only one problem with no being in intense pain. My body reacted to Imma's hands. "Sutop!" I told her as I fumbled to cover myself. My eyes opened to intense light and I forgot about covering myself and clutched my face instead.  
"Duo, calm down please. After this treatment, you will no longer need them, but I have to finish this one or you'll be a very unhappy boy." She finished up my front and let me go. She tossed the sheet over me and patted me on the shoulder. "I'll dim the lights. When you calm down, lay on your stomach." I heard the sound of wood against wood. "Try opening your eyes now."  
That was a very painful thing and my vision was very blurry. I squinted at her, a penguin suit and a pail face. That's all I could make out. I finally made myself relax and rolled onto my stomach. "I sori."  
"Don't worry about it. You've been through a lot. I'm going to see about some cloths for you after I leave here. Agitha will come and keep you company. Martha will bring you something to eat in a little while. It's been three days sense your friend was here. We need to build back up your strength. So tonight we'll get you washed up and tomorrow we'll get you our of this room."  
"Who's Weerr?"  
"We'll is short for we will, it is not a person's name." She said with merriment in her voice. "We meaning you and I on the bath part and Agitha will probably take you out tomorrow. I'm sure she will gladly sacrifice her schooling to show you around. You have heard the same passages every day sense you got here. I'm surprised you don't speak in old English by now."  
"No, but I rearn some thing. I think of different thing when hear in Engrish not Japanese."  
"So you got something different out of a different translation. That's neat. Hey, I'm all done." She told me and I sat up. "Drink some of this."  
It was that weirdly sweet stuff again. I drank it slowly, but finished off the container. She cleaned up the bowl of medicine and straitened up the room while I sipped on the liquid. "I no hot no more." I told her as I put the bottle down on a table next to my cot.  
"That's good. Do you need to go to the bathroom?"  
I decided then would be better the later when Agitha was there. I stood up, everything inside aching slightly. She tried to help me as I tried to wrap the sheet around me. "No herp, I fine." I pulled away from her.  
"Would a robe be better? I've got one in the closet and it will cover you up."  
"Yes prease." I nodded as she went to get it. It was white and large. I noticed that I didn't even come up to her shoulder when she unfolded it and wrapped it around me. I dropped the sheet and stuck my arms in the sleeves quickly. Then I tied it around my waist. It reached the floor and the sleeves had to be triple rolled. "I feer rike a midgit."  
"You are an extremely small man. Maybe you'll grow late."  
"I tantytwo no think so."  
"Twenty-two? Wow. I thought you where maybe fifteen. Agitha guessed you where eighteen, and she was the closest."  
"Everuyone think I is chird! Annoy I." I muttered.  
********  
"Father Maxwerr..." Agitha asked softly.  
"No, Maxwerr. Uh...I write." I picked up a pen and scrawled my last name in English on a piece of paper that she had carried in.  
"Oh. Father Maxwell, what Church are you from?"  
"Hikari Presbaterian. Hikari mean bright right, kind of."  
"I thought you where Catholic."  
"Nobody ask. Same God, no matter right?"  
"I guess. Tomorrow, I could show you the scripture garden. It isn't far, so you wont get to tired." She smiled brightly. She had green eyes and was very dark. She was a pretty girl of about fourteen. "It's very nice there and there are benches and a fountain. That's my favorite place to pray. Where is yours?"  
"In space I no distract and God and I close."  
"Space? You have been in space a lot?"  
"Yes. Birth near L2 Corony." That's where the conversation ended because Martha came in and brought me some food much to my stomach's delight. I was starving. Martha scared me. She was loud and boisterous. I was ready to go back to sleep after her five minutes bustle through the room. There was vegetable soup and half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I ate slowly, minding my stomach so I didn't throw up.  
********  
"I rook brack!" I gaped at my reflection. My skin was mahogany and my hair was bleached a white blond. My blue eyes where vivid against my dark skin. If I didn't die of skin cancer it would be a merical. I was a rich chocolate color from my scalp to the bottom of my feet and everywhere in between. I felt mildly distressed. It didn't look like my body anymore.  
"You look tanned, which is what you are. Now put down the robe and come get in the tub." She told me. She was looking at the wall for my sake and couldn't tell I had already pulled off the rode and dropped it in my surprise at the black guy looking back at me from the mirror above the sink. My hair was nasty. I finished viewing myself and got into the tub. Americans wash in the tub and then rinse instead of washing off and then soaking like I've always done. There was a tremendous amount of soap in the water so all I had to do was basically run a wash cloth over my body and call it a day. While I did that Imma wet, shampooed, rinsed, conditioned, brushed, rinsed, and brushed my hair. She was about as wet as I was when she finished. She told me how to work the shower so I could rinse the soap off, then left me with two bath sheets and went to use the hair drier on her habit front.  
I managed to win the battle of the shower and then to dry my body off. I wrapped the towel around my waist and took the other one and the brush to Imma. She used the hair drier on me after toweling my hair off. Then she brushed it and put it in a loose braid. "Sonk yew Imma." I told her as she went back into the bathroom to clean up the water I had dripped all over.  
"You are quite welcome. There are some cloths on the table that should fit you well enough to surfice. Try and get dressed."  
Easier said then done. There where the basic underwear, pants, and undershirt. They fit ok, but there where three other pieces I knew nothing about. "Imma what this?"  
"Oh, here." She came over and dressed me. There was a shirt/dress thing that I suppose should have been fitted in the top but was a little baggy on me when she belted it at the waist. The skirt nearly reached my ankles and was suppose to be mid calf. Then on top went a red sash. It went around my waist and the ends hung down on my right hip. Last was a long red band that she tied in my hair.  
"I not dorr." I teased as I untied the bow at the end and let it hang down loosely.  
"I know you aren't a doll." She laughed. She changed my bed sheets as I sat on the edge of her chair, feeling tire. "You alright?"  
"Tie red." I yawned. It took a lot of energy to bathe and walking around had basically made me ready to sleep immediately.  
********  
I walked slowly, stiffly, with a cane. Agitha walked along beside me, making sure I didn't get too tired. We made it to a bench in a beautiful garden and I flopped down. I leaned my head back and looked up through the canopy of trees at the vivid blue sky. I took a deep breath and relaxed, trying to identify the scents on the slight breeze that teased my senses.  
My cane clattered to the brick walkway. I bent to retrieve it, but Agitha beat me to it. She handed it to me with a bright smile. I smiled back as I accepted it from her. Then I looked around. My goal had been making it to the bench and really hadn't noticed my surroundings fully.  
There was a fountain of the Virgin Mary and many religious icons in little niches. Bleeding hearts of red and purple, peace lilies of white and pink, and honey suckle of pail yellow encircled the fountain. Pansies, roses, lavender, carnations, and magnolia covered most other surfaces. On the far side of the garden began a herb garden that added to the thickly perfumed air.  
We sat in complete silence for a good while. I offered up little prayers and requested blessing for my helpers. Then Agitha stood up. "Do you mind going back? I have something I have to do."  
"Arright. I tie red an way." I got up and tried to get my body going better then one tenth of a mile per hour. The harder I pushed my self, the longer the walk seemed. I was extremely happy to see the cottage and kicked off my shoes and fell in bed as soon as she walked away.  
********  
I came in with a large smile. Imma nodded at me before going over to shake Duo's arm. He sat up, blinking sleep from his eyes, then he smiled at me. "Hi. Ready to go?" He nodded. "Well, how much money do we owe these people for taking care for you."  
"Alright Quatre." He nodded before speaking in English to Imma. Then he turned back to me. "She said forty-five."  
"Oh, I only have twenty-five on me, but I'll make sure the rest is mailed promptly." I pulled out my wallet. It was much cheaper then if he had ended up in the hospital, but I hadn't really considered the money factor, and I felt that they wouldn't take credit cards. Duo told her and she nodded, looking slightly disappointed. I handed her my twenty-five thousand dollars. She gaped, then turned to Duo, saying something so quickly, she reminded me of a squirrel. "What is it?"  
"She meant hundred."  
"So she doesn't was thousands? Call it an offering." I shrugged. "Come on Jose'-sama."  
"Are you implying I look Latino?"  
"Yes, but the eyes are blue. Well, get yourself up Duo, it's a long way home." I yawned.  
"Give me a minute. I'll meet you at the plane in a minute." He told me. I nodded and started to leave. Imma tried to give back two thousand dollars. I just smiled at her and pushed her to the side. "Tell her to keep it."  
Duo chattered to her as I left.  
********  
I finally got Imma to keep the money but she made me quite uncomfortable with the argument. Then I gave her a hug, unable to convey my graduated into words. Then I left quickly.  
Agitha about knocked me over as she came bounding up the path. She smiled brightly and held out a box. "It's for you to remember me...us all by." I opened the box and was surprised to find a simple silver cross with Saint Mary's Catholic Church written in cursive Italics on the back. "You must have lost yours in the ocean and you don't use a rosary, so I thought this would be a good present." She said hopefully.  
"Sonk yew." I placed it around my neck, unsure of what else I could do. Quickly, she kissed me on the cheek and took off running like the devil himself where after her. He may well have. I grabbed the side on my face in horror. She was almost young enough to be my daughter! Why did women do such things? Why did I have to fall in love with a Nun of all the God damned twisted things. Well, Imma would never be seen again and I could forget. Agitha was a silly little girl with a crush and I could live through it.  
I looked around one last time before heading home. My eyes caught on an ivy-covered wall. There was a mosaic tile picture of the crucifixion behind it. Those pained eyes looked down at me and I felt a tug at my heart and in my mind. "I promise to keep my vows from now on. I guess you really do put us where and when we need to be." I said quietly.  
Then the long plane trip back I slept mostly, only taking the controls for a little while so Quatre could rest. When we landed all I got was a nod from Wu Fei, a grunt from Trowa, and a glare from Hiro~. I decided that I was in the need of a little excitement, so I threw my arms around Trowa and Hiro~ who where standing fairly close together. "Man I missed you guys! It's great to be back!" They went so stiff that I could envision Trowa shattering in horror and Hiro~ self destructing in annoyance. Wu Fei would have taken to me with his sword, so I stayed clear of him. An embarrassed Wu Fei is a murderous Wu Fei.  
********  
I looked at Bo~ken in disbelief. She was in a blue form fit dress with a high collar and an oriental flair to it. Her make-up and hair was completely Bo~kenish. "Come on Quatre! Wu Fei would die of dishonor, Hiro~ would kill someone, and Trowa just wouldn't make a good girl." She shoved the outfit at me.  
I frowned. "What about Duo?"  
"He's changing now."  
"He's probably got enough experience with the cloths." I grumbled as she made me take the hanger.  
"It's pants, chill."  
"You chill, it's got lace and...and kiss marks and no!"  
"Choice of two, you put it on, or I help." She glowered. I sighed in defeat.   
"Do you have anything less bold?" She started tapping her foot and I gave up and put on the underwear and pants. They reminded me of Ru Paul with hip augmentation and special tucking qualities.  
***The wonderful things you learn on pop-up videos! ~QRW~***  
The jeans where just as scary with pink kiss mark patches and hearts all over the legs and one kiss on the rear. I picked up the bra and the false breasts. I managed to get it on because it fastened in the front. The shirt was a pink belly shirt. I walked out of the bathroom as sissy as I could and did a little twirl. "What cha think?"  
She freaked out laughing. I glowered at her. "You look cute, I just wasn't expecting you to do that!" She smiled. "You need something...I know!" She opened a bag and rummaged through it. She pulled out a chain and wrapped it around my waist. It was little silver hearts. "Now you need some make-up and hair clips." She shoved me down and put a plastic flower hair barrette in my bangs and fluffed up the rest and about drowned it in hair spray. Then she slapped some sparkly blue eye shadow and pink blush and lipstick on me. I glanced in the mirror. I looked like a hooker. When I voiced my opinion she told me to stuff it. She found some pink high heals and made me adorn them before dragging me out the door.  
********  
I sat in the convertible, legs crossed and up on the dashboard. The black leather boots where awesome, reaching up to mid thigh and with mile high spike heals. I felt tall and powerful. The black mini dress was horribly short, but I had on flesh tone stretch shorts under it. I had on a garter with a knife in it just in case. I glued on red nails and my lips where surprisingly full in vivid red. I had of green eye shadow and brown eyeliner and mascara. I smoked a cigarette as I waited for the others.  
Quatre fell into the car with the sissiest squeal I've ever heard from him. I giggled as I looked over at him. He looked GOOD. He did look kind of loose, but gorgeous. "Stop looking at me like that!" He protested.  
"Sorry, you just surprised me. I wasn't sure you'd do it, but you look great."  
"You've done this before haven't you?" Bo~ken flipped one of my banana curls out of my face. I just grinned as she continued. "You look like you bite."  
"I do bite and Quatre doesn't want to hear what I might say so I'll be quiet." I teased, as I looked her long blue dress over. She had slits up both sides to her panty line. She had on silver strap shoes.  
"Here is the deal, Quatre, you will sit at a table and a man will ask you if you would like a pina~ colada. Say virgin with two cherries. He'll order it and when he brings it to you he'll slip you the information.  
Duo go to the dance floor and wait for someone to offer you a cigarette and accept. When he hands you a cigarette, he'll slip you a disk with his other hand. conceal it and come back to the table where Quatre is. Wait for me, then we'll leave. OK?"  
"Yes ma'am." Quatre groaned.  
"Hai!" I smiled as I finished my cigarette. It was mainly to relieve stress, but some times I just had to have one of the damn things.  
********  
I sat at a table and fidgeted with the purse Bo~ken had forced on me. The guy came back and set my drink down before plunking himself down next to me on the bench. He bent over me, way over me...sense I was about a foot shorter, and wrapped an arm around me. "Here is the disk." He whispered as he slipped something in my back pocket. He did an unneeded amount of handling me and I realized the guy had no clue that I was a man. I giggled in my drink, as I toyed with the straw. Cherries are an obsessive-compulsive thing and I ate one slowly as he backed off slightly. I smiled at him around it, wondering if I would get in trouble if I told him I was a man. I was curious as to what he would do, but I stifled myself. "Just how old are you Sugar?"  
I felt naughty, and told him with a very childish look. "Eight-teen, but don't tell."  
Duo sauntered up and took the other cherry. "Get lost Buck-o." He told the guy as he sat down across from me, tossing a half finished cigarette in the ashtray on the table. The guy looked at me again before leaving, copping another cheap feel. Then he wandered off. "Those where bad intentions if I've ever met them."  
"Yes, but it was kind of funny."  
"Hmmm." Duo looked at me thoughtfully before popping the whole cherry in his mouth, stem and all. After a few second, he produced the stem, tied in a knot. He twirled it between his index finger and thumb before dropping it in the ashtray. I frowned. How did he do that? I still had my stem in my fingers and stuck it in my mouth, wondering if I could do it. I tried for about five minutes but I finally killed the stem and it fell apart. I tossed the two halves into the ashtray. Duo leaned over the table and whispered. "You are a virgin, there's no way you can do that. You can't even kiss."  
"What?"  
"Only excellent kissers can do that."  
"You mean liars." I glowered.  
"Virgin."  
"Jigalo."  
"Chicken."  
"Don Juan."  
"Hello ladies, not fighting over me, I hope." The guy flopped back down with a double scotch and a cherry.  
"Get lost bakayaro~!" Duo hissed.  
"Temper, temper. Do you want me to leave Sugar?" He asked me softly.  
I thought about it. Dou was annoying me. It would annoy Duo..."No, stay." I snatched the cherry out of his glass and shot Duo a nasty look.  
"Qua...Quanta! But.." Duo gaped at me. "Oh fine!" He hopped up and left.  
I popped the cherry in my mouth and smiled at the man. I tried to tie the stem in a knot once again. "I will figure out how to do it." I glowered at the stem as I pulled it out of my mouth and tossed it in the ashtray.  
"What?" He asked me.  
"Tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue." I grinned.  
********  
I had just been turned away from the bar for being under age. "I am not a little girl."  
"Duo? Where is Quatre?" Bo~ken asked me.  
"At the table. The little jerk."  
"What?"  
"We got in a fight. He's acting weird." I remarked.  
"Is he drinking?"  
"No. I don't think so." I frowned. "Boy is it loud over there."  
"That's where Quatre was, right?"  
"Yah...Uhoh."  
Quatre's high-pitched squeal came over the music, then wild laughter. Bo~ken and I ran over and found him perched on a guy's lap and surrounded by about half of the bar's male content and a few women too. Bo~ken grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the crowd. Then she frisked him for the disk. She handed it to me and produced one from her cleavage. I put them in my boot next to mine and left as she instructed. "Ay Duuoh, I gid ik!" Quatre called after me, waving a stem in the air.  
I got back to base and handed a shocked looking Hiro~ the disks. I went in and began changing back into a man. I left my hair down, but brushed the curls out. I had to pop off the fingernails. Then I flopped back on the bed to pull off the boots. Wu Fei came through, stopping briefly to look at me in disgust. "Shut up, I saved you from having to do it." I guess I did look odd with only make-up, one black boot, and a pair of skin colored shorts on. I made it out of the things and then pulled on some show boxers (happy faces), baggy jean pants, and a big yellow shirt with a smiley face on it. I put on some sneakers and grabbed my skateboard before heading out the door to work my frustrations out on 'death curve'. I couldn't believe that even dressed as a woman and talking to a man I was still hit on by about a dozen women. After skating my brains out and hiking back to base, I changed and went out to get completely squandered. I took the car and drove to a new nightclub in town. It wasn't new, new because I had been on my 'honey moon' when it had opened, but it was new for me and I needed something to get me out of my mopie mood. The final insult I could take was a bouncer needing my id card and actually did a background check on it. I could have bitten him. I was nearly twenty three!!!  
********  
"Duo, are you sure you can handle four pina~ coladas?" Trowa cautioned me when I ordered again.  
"I've had seven and made it home with out help before. I can handle four. Besides, I just completed a mission as a woman, I deserve a break." I ate the cherry off the top and tied the stem in a knot with my tongue. I stuck an end from my growing chain in my mouth and tied it to the fresh one. It was a mindless habit to make a chain out of the stems. I watched "Fire & Ice" perform. Fire was the heavy metal sounding half of the band and Ice was a little more on the soft rock side. I noticed Trowa's interest in the tall, crayon red haired chick called Fire. Her hair was long and she wore a mini dress and high heals in gold and red. They made eye contact a lot. Ice was tiny with short blue hair and silver pants and a blue shirt and sneakers.  
When the song ended, Fire walked down the bar and sat down in front of Trowa. They kissed over his Vodka on the rocks with a lemon twist. "Come on, my motor cycle is around back." He pulled her off the bar and they started out the door.  
"Tarudi! Give me the car keys." The Icy chick blocked them.  
"In your dreams. Take a cab." Tarudi stepped around her and left with Trowa.  
"I don't believe my sister! Every time she finds a new play boy, I get left here." She complained to the bar tender.  
I was sitting next to where she perched. I rehearsed a thought in my head. It sounded reasonable to me, so I asked her. "Excuse me, but if you need a car, you can use mine. I can't drive so it would just sit here over night."  
"What?" She turned and looked at me like I was a Martian. "You don't even know me."  
"No, but I live with Trowa, and he is dating your sister and she knows you. Here, take it." I tossed them on the bar. Then I got up and started to leave. "The red mustang on the end of the second row." Then I pushed my way out of the crowded bar. I was walking up the sidewalk when she caught up with me.  
"Get in the car and let me drive you home." She matched my pace with the car.  
"You can drive me up to the hill top divide." I finally stopped ignoring her, figuring she was going to follow me to Hell if I didn't. She drove me up quietly, the only sound was some soft rock whispering over the speakers. "Ok, this is my stop."  
She slowed down, and looked around. "It's the middle of nowhere. Which way do you want me to go?"  
"I want out here. I live near by." I assured her.  
"Maybe you should come home with me and sleep on the couch." She kept rolling.  
I knew she meant well, and that everything would be fine for a while, but those midnight snacks where a killer. "No thanks, I'm short enough."  
"What?"  
"I live near by. Stop the damn car."  
"Why won't you let me drive you home?" She frowned, not unlocking the door.  
"Like you said before, I don't know you. You might be a stalker or something. You are starting to scare me." I told her. It wasn't true, but she let me out. I couldn't let her drive me to base. Hiro~ frowned on that kind of thing. I waved her away before I cut through the woods and up to base. When I wandered in, Hiro~ and Bo~ken where talking over the com line. Wu Fei was sitting in front of the TV "Hiro~, when did you first have sex?" I asked before I really thought about it.  
"Thirteen." He answered without breaking a stroke as he typed away at a keyboard.  
"But you where raped, that doesn't count." Bo~ken told him. "Hey, The R.D.B. is up 12%, I wonder what Barbie boy is up to now."  
If I started having sex when I was 14...but if Hiro~ did it at 13 only it didn't count until he was maybe 15...then maybe Trowa was telling the truth? I blinked several times, before wandering off to take a shower. Wu Fei came in shortly after me and joined me in the hot bath. I had been ranting in my head over proving or disproving the strange information. And Wu Fei is...?  
Wu Fei was leaned back with his eyes closed, relaxing. Slowly he opened one eye. "What are you staring at?" He asked in his most imposing voice.  
"Sorry I was just thinking about something Trowa said I think it was a lie but maybe it's not and if it's not then it's horrible and something should be said immediately because no one ever said anything before and I would have liked to know does sex make you short?" I finally took a breath.  
He opened both of his eyes and stared at me, then he burst out laughing. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!" He laughed so hard he had tears streaming down his face.  
I turned red and started to cry. "I didn't know, stop laughing at me. Why are you being so mean to me?"  
He tried very hard to straiten himself up and apologize, but he finally left the room. Hiro~ came in an snatched me up out of the bath by my elbow. "Bo~ken wants to talk to you." I was heading on towards hysterical as he wrapped a towel around my waist and pulled me into the main room. "Calm down."  
"I- (Sniffle)-I- (Snuff)-I- (choak)-ca-aa-n't(Wail)!" He pushed me down into the chair I had seen him in earlier. Bo~ken was sitting there waiting patiently.  
"Hiro~ please give the poor child something to calm him down." She told him.  
He got out a needle of something and tried to stick me. "Nooo!" I shrieked. He just squashed me to the chair and jammed it in the vein on the back of my hand. I relaxed so much I slid out the chair about thirty seconds later. He picked me up and put me back in the chair.  
"Duo, I need you to think. Did you and Quatre have anything at the bar?" Bo~ken asked me slowly.  
"He had the virgin pina~ colada (sniff), I only had a cherry." I recalled. "Later at another bar I had four regular pina~ coladas and five more cherries. Then I gave my car to Trowa's girlfriend's sister."  
"Thank you Duo. Now go put on some pajamas and go to bed." Bo~ken instructed.  
I tried to move, but I just ended up laying half under the chair. Hiro~ fished me out and took me to my bed and tossed me in. He tucked me in and dried my hair before leaving with the soggy towel.  
********  
I tossed the towel into the bathroom and went back to where Bo~ken was waiting patiently.   
"Well?"  
"Here is what I've gathered. There is something wrong with the cherries or something in the colada mix. That's what they have in common. Quatre makes Duo look in control. I've never seen anyone that out of control. I'm bringing him over tomorrow and then going out to find some information. Mean while I'll be working in my lab. I expect you to do the same." I agreed and we hung up. I took a sample of Duo's blood and began screening it for toxins and drugs.  
I finally decided I had to go to sleep and finished preparing for the long tests that would be done in the morning. Then I went to bed.  
********  
I woke up so angry I had to do something completely horrid to Trowa. First I went to the bathroom and then decided that would be the best place to set a trap. There where some paints in the closet for the Gundams and I sneaked into the garage and stole them. I couldn't decide which one he would use, so I filled all of the showerheads with powdered paint. There where three showers and three primary paint colors.  
That just wasn't good enough. I went and got one the hypodermic needles out of the lab and filled it with liquid black paint. I injected it into every bar of soap on the counter. Then happily went back to bed.  
********  
"I really have to go. I'm sure you boys will be fine. Alic will help."  
"What? Oh man, why did I come with you?" Alic groaned.  
"Because Quatre was to much for me to handle. Besides it would be better if you could help Trowa and Wu Fei watch the boys so Hiro~ can do the lab work for me." I grinned. "Sense the news came on that it was a poison, I'm going to go to the hospital and slip into the lab. I should be back in a few hours."  
Wu Fei helped Alic drag Quatre into his room and put him in the bed next to Duo.  
"Have you seen Trowa today?" Hiro~ asked suddenly from his lab.  
********  
Duo woke-up and went out and grabbed the loaf of bread and peanut butter and jelly. I appeared and took the knife away from him he had taken out of the drawer. "I'll make it for you."   
I said it demandingly.  
"Oh kay Wuffie..." Duo backed off and glanced over at where Alic was watching TV. Every five seconds he changed the channel, giving Duo's brain strange information. What his brain picked out of the chaos was something he found interesting and set out to think about it fully when Quatre appeared and wanted a sandwich too. They got them and began to eat them. I went out of the room and when I returned they had gotten into a fight and where covered in peanut butter and jelly. I tried to stop them and ended up with half a jar of very cold grape jelly inside my pants.  
I stood there for a long time, my face a mixture of horror and anger until even my ears turned red. Alic had looked up in time to see that part of the fight and tried hard not to laugh, but it was a classic face and he finally gave into it and howled with laughter. I had talked myself out of killing the two men for their state of mind, but when Alic had begun to laugh I decided that I was gonna make him pay.  
Hiro~ came into the kitchen to find the four of us rolling around in peanut butter and jelly and turned green, quietly deciding he would never eat the stuff again for fear of remembering the sight. "Stop." He said quietly and they all froze. "Duo, Quatre, go take a shower. Wu Fei...Alic...clean up the mess please." Then he left us, feeling no hunger after the sight.  
***  
Quatre and I hopped into the bathroom and after throwing our cloths in the wash basket chose one of the three showers. We each took an end. We scrubbed down and rinsed. "I'm turning blue?" I frowned as my skin turned a light blue color.  
"I'm lellow!" Quatre frowned.  
"No, it's the showers! We have to wash it off!" I gasped as I turned off the water and launched for the middle shower, Quatre was in the same mind set and we where both shocked when we turned two different colors. Quatre was now orange and I was a lovely deep purple. "It must be us!" I gasped. We turned off the shower and went and jumped into the tub and began to scrub with soap. There was little if any effect as we worked. Wu Fei and Alic hadn't been far behind us and suddenly both let out shrieks. I hopped up to look around the corner at a lovely yellow Alic and a pretty pink Wu Fei. Wu Fei turned off the water quickly as Hiro~ came running in, sure that something was about to end the world and slipped. He went sliding into the yellow water and then landed on the far end of the shower area. I reached up and flipped on the water. "Look, they are all different colors! Ooops!" I shut off the water and ran back to the tub and hid behind Quatre as a truly mint green Hiro~ got up angrily.  
"Who's bright idea was this?" He asked sourly as he examined his skin. "This is Gundam paint. We're going to be colored for ever!" He growled and snatched me up.  
"I didn't!" I began to wail. "They messed up my hair!"  
"Trowa!!!!" Hiro~'s voice thundered through the base. A vivid blue Trowa appeared with an equally poisonous looking expression.  
"It was not me!" He glowered at me, like I would have made myself Easter egged for no good reason.  
orange=quatre blue=trowa pink=wufei green=hiro purple=duo yellow=alic  
********  
Bo~ken came back from the hospital with new insites into what was wrong with the two boys to find us all funny colors and trying to create a chemical to strip it off of us without harming us. "Hiro~, what happened?"  
"I don't know how or who, but gundam paint ended up in the shower heads and I suppose the end results are rather obvious." I grumbled. I was trying hard to do the stuff before he got back, but what was the use now? "Well, cure them." I pointed at Duo and Quatre who where redressed as women and I wasn't sure why.  
"I can only speed up the process to three days. They have had a lot of the poison, you are luck they aren't dead. I can't believe some disgruntled employees spiked the cherries with a drug. Well, hold them down and I'll shoot them up." He held up two needles.  
I grabbed Quatre by the hand and pulled him over and smashed him against the wall so   
Bo~ken could give him the medicine. He began screaming and hitting me with his free hand. "I'm   
to young!!!" Duo began beating me in the back of the head. Alic and Wu Fei both took one of his hands and held him so I was free to deal with Quatre only. Trowa took his free hand and tried to reassure him that everything was going to be ok. "How can you?!? I thought you where my friend!!!"  
"Nonononononnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooo!" Duo hollered loudly. He was crying again.   
"Bo~ken, don't let them do this!"  
He injected them quickly and gave them something to put them under. We took them back   
and tossed them in the bed. He went back and stayed with them for a little while before coming   
out with a very stupid grin. "You won't believe this, but Duo thinks..."  
"TROWA!" I glared along with Wu Fei.  
"What?" He looked back innocently.  
"Ahem, Duo thinks that holding hands *snicker* can get girls pregnant and Quatre has convinced him they are girls *SNICKERS* and that's why they where unhappy with you. They thought you where raping them or something." He held his sides he was laughing so hard.  
"THAT was NOT MY fault!!!" Trowa shook his head before laughing, "He did that by himself."  
********  
It was nearly a week later that we where back to normal both mentally and physically. I went to Bo~ken's apartment after weaseling the address from Duo and asked to talk to her. She let me in after a large frown. "Bo~ken, why did Zechs go after you when you where with Duo?" I settled down on the edge of her bed with the cup of tea she had handed to me. She was packing a bag and finished before even taking note of my existence.  
Bo~ken sat back on her heels and looked at me for a long time before she spoke. "Alright, here is why Zechs is so blood thirsty towards me... I was ordered to get some information on OZ. I was assigned as an OZ soldier.  
Captain Zechs was cocky, just having been promoted higher then his 19 years was supposed to be. I made it known that I was interested in him, but went out of my way to ignore him. He caught me alone. "Soldier, I'm lonely. You shall keep me company. Come." He ordered with cool confidence.   
I followed him. I drugged his wine while he was busy undressing me. Then after we had sexual relations, I hacked his computer and stole all of the information I could get my hands on. Then I disappeared from the records. I turned the things in and they sent me to a colony, which shall remain nameless, to be with my assigned husband. There I had Zechs's baby. My husband's brother and his wife took the child in. That was five years ago. I've never seen my daughter sense the day I had her. Last year I was shown a photo. Zechs doesn't know anything except I screwed him over and stole that information."   
"What are you going to do?" I asked, trying to picture her as a mother. "He knows you are on earth now."  
"Yah, and he just bar-be-qued my family. Rei is being brought here. I guess I have to kill him." She frowned.  
Knowing that Bo~ken was a she and looking at what appeared to be a he was giving me a headache. She looked upset. "You could get to him like you are and tell him about..."  
"No! I am not dragging Rei into this. Zechs would probably kill her for the hell of it." Her eyes where fiery.  
"How can you say that? Not even Wu Fei would kill a child, and it would be his own daughter."  
"Quatre...He is bent on revenge. I'm not sure there is even a reason to fight anymore, but people bent on destruction are dangerous. They get so consumed with anger, there is no reason for their existence outside of war. When someone gets that way, you have to destroy them. He has hit that point. Neither of Rei's guardians was part of the war. He'd have killed her but she was with her father. It was a village of peaceful workers. Not a military outpost." Bo~ken stood up and looked out the window. "I will do it tonight, and if I don't come back..."  
"You will!" I argued.  
"Before they bring Rei, take care of her. Here are the papers you'll need and some cash." She tossed me an envelope she pulled out of her sleeve. "Please."  
"Why me?" I asked in surprise.  
"Can you imagine Hiro~ baby-sitting?" She grinned and I laughed at the very scary mental picture. "Besides, I trust you." She turned back to me with the eyes no one can say "no" to. I nodded. "Thank you." She gave me a small smile before she went to the closet and pulled out a uniform. A shiny new OZ uniform. She pulled off her jump suit, pants, shirt, and bindings. Then she put on the OZ uniform. She braided her hair tightly back and pulled on a pair of new boots.  
"Bo~ken, I...Good luck." I failed to tell her again. Why was 'I love you.' so hard to say?  
"Oh Quatre, you're the best!" She threw her arms around my neck. Then she let go and picked up her bags. She chuckled at my face, which had grown red. "Bye for now!" She left me alone in her apartment.  
"Good bye Bo~ken." I stood and watched her walk down the street. I washed the cup and put it away before I slowly walked back to the base. I decided to call my guards and tell them I would stay at base until Bo~ken got back or Rei came. 


	3. chapter 3

When I walked in, Hiro~ was busy repairing his gundam. Does he ever keep it fixed for more then one day? Wu Fei and Trowa where drinking cups of coffee. I bowed in acknowledgement before I made my call. Then I came back to them. "If anything comes for Bo~ken, I'm to accept it. Please call me if something comes. I'm going to take a rest." I told everyone before I wandered into the dormer. Duo was lounging on his bed in a T-shirt and boxers. I pulled off my vest and shirt and kicked my shoes under the bed. Then flopped down on my back on the bunk next to his. "Hi."  
"You're staying here?" He propped up on his elbow, his hair hung loosely down his back.   
"Yes. Bo~ken asked me to do something for him." I looked at him, he smiled softly when I called Bo~ken a him. "But then, of coarse, you know Bo~ken as a woman. You couldn't sleep with her and still say 'he' could you?"  
"You ok? You look upset." Duo gave me a moment before he pressed any further. "Is something up between you and Bo~ken? Did she do something to you?"  
"No. I just...You wouldn't understand." I looked away before my eyes betrayed me.  
"Try me. Quatre?" Duo sat up and reached over, resting a hand on my shoulder.  
"Promise me you will not tell anyone." I sighed.   
He made the motion of zipping his lips. "Not even my alternate personality will know."  
I smiled a little. "Ok. Remember when Bo~ken first came in? It was my birthday. Well after I brought you back and I went back home, she came to tell me that everyone was safe. She had been cut up and passed out from lack of blood. That's when I found out that she was a she. Well, after that, I guess it just developed without me realizing it..." I felt my face get hot and I trailed off.   
Duo looked like he was going to choke me. "You can't just stop, that isn't fair!"  
"I'm in love with her and she either won't listen or I loose my nerve every time I try to tell her. The only time I did, I was drugged beyond humanity. Now I have a feeling that she's not coming back." I teared up.  
"Where did she go?" Duo's eyes where sympathetic.  
"To fight Zechs over some things. Zechs is powerful and his honor is riding on her death. I don't want her to die." I rolled over on my stomach and pushed my face into the pillow. I just felt plain depressed.  
"Just so you know, I didn't sleep with her, her husband was there and I was assigned to someone else." Duo told me before he changed the subject. "The news is coming on soon, shall I fill you in or are you going to watch it?"  
"Watch it I guess." I sat up on my knees and smoothed my hair back. Then I followed him into the other room.   
We settled in front of the TV and watched a woman report on the terrorist bombing (one of Hiro~'s missions) and the report that some prisoners had escaped from a prison transporter. Then there was a bulletin flash. "...This just in, at the Military outpost on the edge of the state, a soldier went AWOL and was executed in broad day light. The following material may not be suitable for younger viewers..." A video of the base came up on the screen. Someone on a motorcycle came bursting through a window and into the street. Zechs appeared in the window with a detonator. The motorcycle exploded along with the woman that rode it. The figure of Bo~ken was obliterated before the shocked boys' eyes. "...The body was identified as that of twenty one year old Nadia Reno..."  
"No! Bo~ken!!!" I grabbed my chest and fled from the room. It felt like my heart was being ripped from my body. I made it to the bathroom and fell to my knees in front of a toilet. I was violently ill. When my stomach was empty, I sat back on my heels and choked on sobs larger then I could handle. I felt empty and alone.  
Duo came in quietly and picked me up off of the floor. He dragged me over to the sink and splashed me with cold water. He pushed me to sit on the edge of the sink and slapped a wet towel on my neck. I hick-upped pathetically. "Poor guy, you need to calm down. Listen to me, the people looking for Bo~ken are here. If you give me the papers, I can handle what ever it is."  
"No!" I snuffed feebly. "Just tell them I will be a minute." I turned to look at myself in the mirror. I looked very bad. I splashed some water on my face again and drank a few mouth fulls. Duo left me as I straitened myself up. I went back through the bunkroom and pulled on my shirt and vest. Finally I felt presentable and went out to meet them.  
"Bo~ken Tenjina?" One of the two men asked when I appeared.  
"Quatre Raberba Winner. I have the papers for the transaction." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the envelope. "Please, step into the computer room with me so that we can do it in private." I ushered them into the small office room.  
One of the men took the envelope from me and took out the papers. After a minute of silence, he nodded to his companion. The other pulled out a stack of papers from his briefcase and handed them to me. "The top two are legal contracts that you will provide for the child until Bo~ken Tenjina takes the child or the child turns eighteen. The next one with the three carbon copies are adoption papers Tenjina-sama requested. Please be sure that they reach..."  
"They where for me. The last page in the envelope is the testament. We can go ahead and get it out of the way." I sat down at the desk and picked up a pen, scanning the pages quickly.  
"And the name changing forms?" The man asked hesitantly.  
"Correct." It made sense to change her name for protection. I signed the first two pages, then handed them back. "On this page do I put her old name or her new one?" I held up the adoption papers for them to view.  
"Old name."  
"Ok." I went back to writing. I tossed that set of papers across the desk, then I read over the next. "This says I need a witness, is that besides you?"  
"Yes."  
I finished filling out the page and called La Sheed into the room. He basically filled the small space beyond comfort. "Please sign this." I handed him the paper and the pen. He raised an eyebrow at me. "It is just a formality, nothing will be expected of you." He didn't bother to read it, he just scrawled his name across the page and handed it back with a bow. Then he left. I signed the last space and handed it over. "Anything else?"  
"The Five hundred dollars for transportation, name changes, and processing." One said as he stuffed the papers back in the briefcase and stood. I handed him the money Bo~ken had given me. It was enough that I had a hundred-dollar bill left. "Alright Mr. Winner, ready to go meet your daughter?"  
I just stood and followed them out. We went outside where a woman stood taping her foot. She looked annoyed. A little girl sat under a tree and played with a teddy bear. The two men walked over and spoke to the woman quietly. She looked relieved. They went over to the car. One of the men took out two large suitcases and brought them over to me. "She's all yours." Then they drove away.  
Rei looked up in surprise as the car left her. "Rei, come here." I called her softly. She looked up and smiled brightly at me. She came over and held her arms up with out hesitation.  
"Pick me up, please." When I did, she put her hand in my hair, the other held tight to her bear. "Your hair is just like mine. You're my real daddy aren't you?" She smiled at me like it was the cleverest thing ever thought of. I was so surprised that I stared at her. "I'm glad I get to be with you now. I didn't like being all by myself. I've never seen anyone else with hair colored like mine, that's how I know you're my daddy."  
If you can resist the blond curls and big blue eyes, then you are just plain insensitive. Add to those two endearing traits such a simple and sweet mind and your heart is a goner. I never had a chance. She had a cute smile and had a little roundness to her face. It was scary, but she did look like me. I had no clue as to how to start, so I just let my mouth go to town. "Rei, you get a new name today, because you are starting a new life. Your new name is Kirei Shizuka Winner. It means "beauty at peace"."  
"Kirei, Kirei, my name's Kirei, Shizuka!" She made a singsong chant and smiled happily. She was obviously going to be an easy child. I sat her down and picked up her bags.  
"What have you got in here, a herd of elephants?!" I asked as I hefted them inside.  
"No, silly!" She giggled. "There is only one!"  
I didn't expect her to come back with that. I hoped with laughter after a two-second delay. I dropped the cases and scooped her up again. "Then what's in the other one, Kirei?"  
She thought for a moment before smiling. "A hippo."  
"I see."Duo came around the corner and ground to a halt. "Man, either you have been cloned or you have a kid."  
"The later of the two. This is Kirei. Kirei, this is Duo." I said, stifling a grin at Duo's face.  
"Hello Mr. Duo. I'm Kirei Shizuka Winner. Are you my daddy's friend?" She chirped.  
"Mr., Your kid called me Mr." He looked like it was a bad word.  
"Get a grip, you're twenty two years old. Being called Mr. shouldn't scare you so much."  
"One time I was afraid of monsters and I got some monster repellant spray. Maybe you need some Mr. repellant spray." Kirei said trying to be helpful.  
Duo chuckled. "Now I know it's your kid. Innocence oozes from her." He looked Kirei over for a moment. "You're pretty neat, kid."  
She held her arms out to him. He looked at me and I shrugged. He took her and tossed her up in the air a little ways. She shrieked with laughter. "Don't drop her. I'm going to get some things from the workroom, then I'll be back. Give me seven minutes." I wandered off. I went to the bathroom and picked up the stuff from the workroom. I came back to Duo and Kirei tossing the bear back and forth like a ball.  
I walked down the road to the nearest phone booth, my hands full of suitcases. Kirei skipped down the road next to me. She was innocent of the world that so horribly robbed her of her family. Now how would I fill that void? I was so young and barely understood things myself.  
"Hey, Mr. Winner, need a ride?" A sweet voice called from behind me. I turned and found Ms. Peacecraft's pink limo. She was leaned out the window and waving at me.  
I walked up to her, Kirei shadowing me. "Do you really want to take me all the way to the Plaza Hotel Ms. Peacecraft?"  
"Of coarse. It's been quite a while. We need to catch up. Go back and load that stuff in the trunk." She rolled up the window without waiting for a replay.  
I wasn't in the mood to argue, so I did as she said. When I climbed in and sat across from her, I noticed for the first time how long her legs where. I decided I had just never seen them from that angle before. She had on a short skirted business suit. I lifted Kirei up and buckled her in beside me. I pulled the door closed and fastened my own belt. "How have you been doing with the new treaty?"  
"Alright I suppose. The whole process is crawling but it is a whole new way of life to estate. How is Hiro~?" She asked, looking a little more eager then she intended.  
"He is as well as he ever is. He hasn't attempted to blow himself up sense just after you came back to earth." I told her as I watched Kirei play quietly with her bear. I smiled at the simple act. The only toys I remember having had where blocks that my teacher made me reconstruct bases with.  
"I see."  
"Should I tell Hiro~ that you asked after him?"  
"No." She looked out the window, keeping her eyes from meeting mine. "I don't want to make him feel guilty."  
"Princess Relina, I don't understand you two, but I will acknowledge one thing, I know how it is to be ignored by someone you love. If you would like to see him, tomorrow is his day off and when he is free, he goes to the Barrier by the sea. It's isolated. He thinks of you a lot, but you didn't hear any of it from me." I winked at her. She just smiled.  
"Daddy, when am I going to see Mommy?" Kirei suddenly asked me.  
"I don't know Kirei. I hope it will be soon, but I don't know." I told her, silently praying that she lived. "Try to be patient Kirei."  
"Quatre, you are her father?" Relina sounded completely surprised.  
Who wouldn't? I would have been gaping at anyone who had said it the day before. I wanted to say 'No, she is your niece, your brother's daughter. But sense he killed Rei's mother, the only woman I've ever loved, I have to protect the child.' But how could I? "Yes. She is my first." I spoke with more heart in it then I really had.  
"What's her mother's name?" She smiled at Rei.  
I looked out at the sky, it was darkening. "Yoake." I named her daybreak. What would anyone be able to say even if they knew otherwise?  
"That's a beautiful name." She looked at my cloudy face.  
"And a beautiful woman. But is it one who will come back to me?" I whispered. Kirei had slipped into sleep, but I dare not wake her.  
"I'm sure." She reached across and took my hand. "Anyone as gentle and kind as you will never be lonely."  
We pulled up in front of the Hotel. I kissed her hand. "Do~mo arigato~ gozaimasu." Then I went and pulled the bags from the trunk. I took off my belt and strapped it around the handles. Then I gathered Rei and the bear in my other arm. It was enough to make me groan when I was forced to pick it up and put it down repeatedly to push the elevator buttons and put the key in for the penthouse suit. When I got us into my room, I was out of breath. I could have asked for help, but I was in the mood to be independent. I put Kirei on my bed and sat next to her and rested.  
"Master Quatre?" Shika peered into my room.  
"Yes?" I asked her softly.  
"May I be of any service to you?" She stepped into the room and bowed. She had on a long white robe.  
"Please unpack the cloths in these suitcases and put them in my dresser. I'm going to order something to eat, would you care for anything?" I yawned at the end of the sentence. I was sleepy.  
"No thank you." She went to work unpacking for me.  
I had the kitchen send up something suitable for a child and something for myself. Then I took out my pajamas and put them on the sink in the bathroom so I could take a shower before I retired for the night. Kirei had more things then most grown men ever owned in their life combined. She had nearly three dozen dresses and eight nightgowns, twelve pairs of shoes and hair ribbons galore. She also had a gold vanity set and make-up. "I didn't know that little girls wear make-up. I thought that didn't start until the teen years." I looked in surprise at the nail polishes, compacts, and lipsticks.  
"Just proving that she's a Winner. Only someone in your family would have so much stuff." Shika held up a small bag. "Where do you want toys?"  
"Um...On the desk, I guess. I don't have a lot of stuff, so how can you say it proves she's a Winner?" I frowned at her.  
"For a man, you have an ungodly amount. Compare you to your friends. They have two pairs of shoes and four outfits. You have four pairs of shoes and at least a dozen outfits. That isn't normal." She poked me in the side. "Normal people don't color co-ordinate their underwear with their pajamas."  
I blushed, shocked that she knew that and was bold enough to say it. There was a knock at the door and I went to answer it. I grabbed the food and gave the guy a fat tip. Then I woke up Kirei. "Hey kid-o, you hungry?"  
"Yes sir! I'm very hungry. I could eat a whole moose." She declared.  
"Will chicken nuggets work?" I chuckled.  
"Yep." She sat down and we ate. Shika left us to go back to bed. I got Kirei into her nightgown and watched her brush her teeth. She went and hopped back in my bed. "Tell me a story. Please Daddy, please?" She batted her eyes at me.  
"What story?" I asked.  
"One you know, or read me one."  
I didn't know any stories, but there was a bible in the room. I started at the beginning and read. I read a creation story and about man and woman being tricked by a snake. They got kicked out of a garden and I ended there. I told her to go to sleep, then I went and took a shower. I kept thinking of Bo~ken and how Zechs had killed her. I kept thinking of how I was going to tell Kirei. There would never be a gravesite that I could even take her to. "Why'd you go? You knew you would die..." I whispered quietly to the ceiling. When I got in bed, Kirei curled up next to me and put her arm around me. "Good night Kirei."  
"Good night Daddy."  
********  
"Quatre." I whispered his name and covered his mouth with my hand. He sat up, eyes opening as he did so. "Shuuh." I shushed him. His eyes nearly popped out of his head, then he passed out. "That didn't work well." I frowned. I patted his cheek. "Hey, wake up."  
He opened his eyes again. "You are supposed to be dead."  
"I kind of traded a clone Une's cloths with mine and Zechs blew her up." I whispered. "I told him about Rei and he let me go. Sorry I didn't plan it out first. Are you mad at me?" I asked him.  
"What do you think?" He pulled me down into a kiss. When I resisted he let me go. "Sorry, I..." He blushed.  
"You where being emotional, don't worry about it." I tried to slow my heart. "About Rei..."  
"I adopted her and gave her a new name. She is Kirei Shizuka Winner."  
"I want to be with her. I have permission to assume a woman's life. Will you let me pose as one of your concubines?" I asked him trying to look impartial.  
"I don't want you to be a concubine." My face fell, but he lifted my chin. "I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?" I made a squeaky sound, like I couldn't breathe. Of all the things I had imagined, that wasn't one of them. "I'm sorry, I had no right to ask you." He turned away, hiding his face from me.  
"Quatre, did you really mean that?" I asked.  
"I've meant it sense I brought you breakfast that day in the palace. I love you." He was still facing the wall. "It isn't your obligation to feel anything for me."  
"But I do." I whispered in his ear. "I just didn't know that you did. I will marry you if you wish." I wrapped my arms around his waist. "It will take a while to get everyone to agree though."  
"I wish you could be my wife now." He pulled me down to sit beside him. He kissed me lightly on the cheek.  
"Well, if you have a computer I can go on line with, I could maybe arrange it."  
"Kirei thinks I'm her father and I guess she will find out that I'm not. To bad, I kind of liked being a parent." He smiled over at my baby.  
"Where were you turned thirteen?"   
"Why?" He looked at me questioningly. "The L4 Colony, I went to train after my birthday that I spent with my father. Then I came to earth with the gundam."  
"Hum...I was there around that time. I bet I could rig it so we got married back then. Coming up with a back ground for myself shouldn't be hard. I just need a fist name. Oh and did you use to get on the Internet?"  
"You first name is Yoake, and yes I did."  
"Alright. That is where we met and fell in love, works?"  
"Ok...Can you really pull this off?" He got out of the bed and pulled on a bathrobe. "Fooling earth and the colonies is a little harder then just a few people."  
"Yes. Have you heard of the Tsurara house?" I stood up. He turned looking surprised.  
"Of coarse. Aete is a friend of mine. We've been friends sense...I was nearly thirteen." Quatre kind of smiled at me.  
********  
I finished the last document and printed out a copy of our faux marriage certificate. I put it in the drawer of the bed side table. Then I ruffled through Quatre's stuff until I found some pajamas. I changed into the shorts, tying the button up shirt under my bust, and put my cloths neatly on a chair. Then I snuggled up to Quatre and went to sleep.  
********  
I woke up with Bo~ken sleeping against me. My heart did four cartwheels. I felt so happy I could have hugged her to death, but settled for watching her sleep soundly. "Daddy? I'm hungry!" Kirei came in from the bathroom. She was brushing her hair. "Can I call for breakfast?"  
Bo~ken opened her eyes and looked up at me in confusion for a moment, then smiled at me. "Hum?" I realized Kirei was talking to me. "Oh, breakfast. You can call by yourself?"  
"I'm in first grade, of coarse I can!" She sounded indignant. "Do you want anything Daddy? Is that Yoake, my mommy?"  
"Yes; coffee and some cereal. This is your mother." I smiled softly as she threw herself at the groggy woman and hugged her.  
"Mommy, Daddy, now I have both of you! Are you going to stay?" She begged.  
"Yes Kirei, I'm going to stay." She hugged her back. I wrapped my arms around the both of them on a whim. Kirei stayed there for a second before wiggling free, leaving Yoake in my arms still half-asleep.  
"Hello?" I smiled as Kirei picked up the phone and began jabbering. "Hi! My name is Kirei and it means pretty but actually it means something else that also means pretty but I don't remember what it is and my daddy said that I could order breakfast cause I'm hungry and I'm four years old so I can do it all by myself. And I want bacon and eggs and hash browns with ketchup cause ketchup is really yummy and did you know it's made out of tomatoes? My teacher told me that and she told me that we need to eat out of the four food groups but I don't want salad for breakfast cause salad tastes really icky and I don't like it cause I like candy so can I have some candy cause I was a good girl and I took a bath when my daddy told me to and it was a bubble bath and I like bubbles do you like bubbles? cause bubbles are really fun and you can make fun pictures with them and I'm really hungry so can you send my breakfast up right away and send some for my daddy too, and for my mommy cause my mommy is here now and she's really pretty and I love my mommy just because so can you send lots and lots of food but not too much cause then we can't eat it all cause it's too much food but I'm really hungry so do send a lot, and take a bubble bath when you can cause they are really fun and thank you! And I'll tell my daddy to pay cause I don't have any money cause I'm only four and thank you I'll be waiting okay! Byebye!! Have a nice day to okay?!"  
"Kirei, hand me the phone." Yoake held out her hand.  
"Okie dokie mommy." She told her. "My mommy wants to talk to you and I think she is the most wonderful mommy in-the-whole-wide-world," Kirei began to speed up, "and-she-is-so-nice-snd-I-love-her-more-than-anything-else-even-more-than-my-teddy-bear-and-I-really-like-my-teddy-a-lot-cause-he-is-so-nice-and-huggy-and-I-love-my-mommy-even-more-and-I-love-her-thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!" She spread her hands wide trying to show the man on the other end of the phone line how much she loved he mother...but in the process dropped the phone. "Oh no! Mommy I dropped the phone I dropped the phone I dropped the phone I dropped the phone I dropped the phone I dropped the phone!!!!!!!!!!!! The world is gonna DIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
Yoake smiled and picked up the phone. "No darling, the world isn't going to die because you dropped the phone."  
"YESS IT WIIIILLLLL!!!!!!!! 'Cause if the phone brokes then comm-une-ee-kae-shuns might broke, then no body could talk to no body else and then people would get mad and not know why and then they might fight each other and then everything to eat would be gone and then the world would DIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The child was inconsolable until I handed her a teddy bear in panic.  
Then I scooped her up and gave her a hug. She calmed down immediately, sniffling softly. "Hello? Oh good, you are still there. I would like to order a fruit salad, a scone, 2 hot chocolates, one coffee, a glass of milk, and a bowl of fruit flavored cereal. Did you understand what my daughter wanted?" She laughed at the reply. "That will be fine. Thank you." She hung up.   
Yoake rolled over and kissed me on the cheek before hopping out of the bed. I admired her as she picked up a backpack from a corner and took it into the bathroom. My pajama top looked a whole lot better on her then on me. I was worried suddenly as I wondered about her make-up habits. "Bo~... 'y the way Yoake, go light on make-up."  
"You think I look like that all the time?"  
"Don't know, just making sure."  
"Mommy?" Kirei wiggled out my arms and padded into the bathroom after Yoake. "Are ya gonna put on make-up cause make-up's pretty and that's my name but you know that and I'v got make-up too can I put it on with you if you help me 'cause I can do it almost good all by my self but some times I can't do the lipstick on my lips 'cause I'm only four but you know that 'cause your my Mommy and not my Daddy cause my Daddy has to be a boy and can I have a sister or a brother?"  
I choked on air. I had never actually thought that far ahead with Bo~ken in mind. I had never thought about having children in a positive way and my suddenly daughter decides I need another? And I'd never even had sex... "Kirei, let's take this one day at a time. Daddy and Mommy have never had children before, so lets be a family for a little while before we decide on if we want any new babies to come." Yoake saved the day. I had turned kind of pail at the idea of more then one jabber jawed kid.  
"Okay. Door bell, I'll get it!" She said as the buzzer was pushed. "Hello! I'm Kirei and did I talk to you on the phone?" I followed her, getting ready to save the poor delivery boy.  
"Hi. Everyone liked you so much, they sent you a special gift." The man said handing her a box wrapped with pink and purple ribbons. He wheeled breakfast into the main room and bowed. "Good morning sir."  
I gave him the money and set up breakfast for the three of us.  
***  
I wandered down the beach, the sun warm on my body. Relina was sitting ahead of me on the sand in a short sundress. One strap had slipped off of her shoulder luring my attention to the bare skin. She stood and came up to me with a soft smile on her face. The look in her eyes was one I felt must have reflected in my own eyes but I made it a point to ignore the feelings that ran through me. "Hiro~!" She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and stood just a few feet away with her head cocked to the side ever so slightly.  
"Relina." My voice sounded a little to yearning for my liking so I refused to speak again.  
She opened her mouth, then bit her lip, showing some indecision. Then before I knew what was going on, she had her arms around my neck and her lips pressed against mine. My body responded without my mind's permission, drawing her small body into mine and deepening the kiss. "Hiro~..." She moaned my name into my mouth, making my body ache. I broke the kiss breathlessly, feeling slightly panicked. :I'm alright, Relina would never hurt anyone, including me.: I made myself relax as she took up my hand and kissed it before pulling me back to where her blanket lay. I sat down with her, trying to convince myself that I was ready for it.  
I pulled off my shirt and leaned against her nervously. I kissed her. We fell over, he coming to rest on top of me. I panicked and shoved her away and ran. "Hiro~!" She called after me. I forced myself to stop and face her. She clutched my T-shirt to her chest as tears ran down her face. I shook my head before leaving.  
***  
Duo remarked that he had seen Relina in town and she had looked sad. I felt miserable. I wanted her so badly, but when she was on top of me I had lost it. She hadn't meant to scare me I reasoned with myself. Quatre was on duty and Kirei was at a friend's house, so I went to Bo~ken. She let me in and gave me some tea. I explained what had happened.  
"So tell her you are afraid and you need her to be patient." Bo~ken said reasonably.  
"I can't talk when she's around." I shook my head in embarrassment.  
"I'm afraid of dark water. Every day I go and stand as deep as I can deal with and then take another step until I am ok with that and can take another. Maybe you just need practice trusting." With that she knocked me onto the floor and pinned me down. I struggled wildly. "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." I tried, but I couldn't so she allowed me to shove her off. I sat in the floor shaking and she rubbed my back and handed me my tea to relax me. "I see. So take top and don't let her roll you over." She gave the best idea she had.  
I turned bright red, mostly from how badly I had reacted to Bo~ken, but also to her bold advice. "Maybe..."  
"And flowers are always a good thing." She added as she helped me to my feet. I calmed myself and left her with a word of thanks.  
I crept onto the property easily and up to her bedroom. I locked the door and removed my cloths before whispering in her ear. "Relina." She opened her eyes and looked at me in surprise. I picked up one of her hand and laid it against my chest. Her eyes grew large as she looked me over and I suddenly felt like it was a mistake. I drew back, embarrassment flushing my face.  
She sat up and caught my wrist. "Hiro~..." I looked at her sharply as she released me and stood up. She pulled off her cloths before sitting back down and holding her arms out to me. I didn't loose my nerve and run away. I waited until she fell asleep before easing out of her arms and leaving my gift for her. I hid and waited for her to wake and find the flowers before smiling and leaving her to happily fuss over her eleven pink roses. I figured they didn't fully admit love or devotion like a dozen red would.  
  
~~~~THE END~~~~  



End file.
